The Birth of Hettie Hen…

Hettie Hen was hatched in 2018 by Mike and Lizzie Moran — along with their five girls, Bea, Hanna, Esme, Niamh, and Rosie — on Lizzie’s parents’ farm in Somerset, where farming roots stretch back two, if not three, generations. Chickens roamed freely around the yard, pecking at grubs and occasionally causing havoc in the flower beds. But it was from this rustic family chaos — and a shared family passion for knowing exactly where your food comes from — that Hettie Hen was born.

In those early days, we used our own eggs and pork from Caroline Wheatley-Hubbard’s Berkswell herd of Tamworths at Boyton Farm in Wiltshire. Today, our pork comes from Cameron and Muriel Naughton at West End Farm in Bishops Cannings, Wiltshire — whose unwavering commitment to quality and sustainability recently earned them the prestigious title of Britain’s Best Pork Producers.

Their Hampshire boars are carefully crossbred with Landrace and Duroc sows, a combination that enhances flavour and ensures the meat is beautifully marbled — juicy, never dry. The Naughtons’ ethical and sustainable farming practices mean our pork is not only delicious but responsibly sourced. The pigs are slaughtered just six miles from the farm and butchered by Walter Rose & Sons of Devizes — purveyors of fine meat since 1847.

At the heart of our products are our eggs, sourced from Greenacres Farm in the Chew Valley, Somerset, where Tom Wood can be found either grading eggs or tending to the hens. The farm’s Hyline and Bovan breeds enjoy outdoor access and a natural diet, which gives the eggs their rich flavour and golden yolks — just like the ones laid by the chickens that roam Lizzie’s family farm.

It all began one day when we returned home from Bath Farmers’ Market with more sausages than sausage sales and wondered, “Could we make a few Scotch eggs?” Before we knew it, we were selling far more Scotch eggs than sausages — and so, in 2018, Hettie Hen was truly hatched.